Inland Heritage Self-Guided Walking Holiday

Our Inland Heritage trail is a moderate walk of 54 miles (87 km) from Shaftesbury to Dorchester. It is an 8 night holiday - 6 days' walking, with one rest day in the middle. You can also do a short break of 4 nights - 3 days’ walking.

The average daily walking distance is 9 miles, although you can always do less than the full distance each day, since our vehicle can pick you up at almost any point where a road meets the trail.

It is therefore a good option for families/groups with children or with people of varying fitness or aptitude for walking.

You will be collected each morning from your inn, B&B or hotel, and driven to the trail and then taken back in the late afternoon. We will give you our detailed and informative Inland Heritage Trail Guide that includes step by step walking directions and interesting background material on places along the trail, as well as all other information that you might need for your holiday.

As a back-up we will also lend you the relevant ordnance survey map with the trail highlighted.

The trail itself, which has very little road walking, winds its way through the best of rural Dorset, through mature woodland, along open ridges, over Celtic and Roman hill forts and into quiet, unspoilt English villages, all with their church and most with their pub. Although there are a few steep climbs, the terrain is mostly undulating.

There is an abundance of wildlife to see: rabbits, deer, foxes, squirrels, pheasants, buzzards, butterflies and many other fauna. For lovers of trees, hedgerows and wild flowers, this trail is ideal.

Even in the summer, the paths and tracks are usually deserted, and you are left to enjoy the peacefulness and beauty of the landscape on your own.

If you want to discover rural England as it really is - in one of the most beautiful, historic and unchanged parts of the country - then this holiday is ideal. It is a superb trail, and exclusive to footscape.

Our Inland Heritage trail takes you to:

• The hill-top town of Shaftesbury with its much photographed “Gold Hill”
• The royal hunting grounds of Cranborne Chase
• The weird and wonderful Larmer Tree Gardens
• A succession of beautiful stone and thatch villages
• The iron age hill forts of Hambledon Hill and Hod Hill
• Milton Abbey and the extraordinary village of Milton Abbas
• The quintessentially English village of Cerne Abbas and the mysterious “Cerne Giant”
• The historic town and museums of Dorchester.

Occasionally we may propose accommodation with a standard and price between A1 and A2.
 
We can sometimes offer family rooms and special prices for children, depending on the accommodation that is available at the time, but early booking is advisable. Please give us details of your requirements on the enquiry form.

For our full range of holidays and how we operate, go to holidays 2008 and why footscape?.